[pfsb]

[acrookedpath]

It is well past wǔ hour -- nearly noon, by the inn's reckoning -- when Wei Wuxian wakes back up to shuffle downstairs.

His robes are rumpled. He's secured his hair back in a simple, untidy ponytail, strands of hair ecaping from all sides. Muffling a yawn against the back of his hand, he bows to Madam Bar and asks for the strongest pot of tea she can provide -- he cannot sleep the whole day, after all, and he certainly must be awake for whenever Lan Zhan returns.

Not only does Madam Bar give him a pot of tea almost as big as his head, but it's accompanied by a hefty ceramic cup as large as two fists stacked together. Bold reds, greens, and golds swirl across one side to form an elegant wall of text: RISE AND SHINE, BITCHES.

He is still tired enough to find this absolutely hilarious, if his snickering is anything to go by.

Comments

[blue_ajah]

"As you prefer, then," she tells him, and takes a seat at the bar.

[acrookedpath]

Only after she is seated does Wei Wuxian join her. Somewhat, anyway; he settles on the barstool next to Moiraine with one foot resting against the ground, arms still folded, mouth tense. There is none of his usual relaxed sprawl here.

She may need help, but he will remain wary.

"So?"

[blue_ajah]

"What kinds of things, you asked," Moiraine replies. "It is hard to say, exactly."

"Some appear as ghosts, both of those who are known and those who are not. Some have appeared as the reanimated or restored dead, warm to the touch and seeming alive, but ... subtly wrong. Some are more nebulous, manifestations of strangeness in various ways."

"That which I called a demon possessed others in its gleeful rush to do harm."

There is something very, very flat about her tone as she says this last.

[acrookedpath]

That is...

By all standards, that is exactly what cultivators are trained to handle. Malevolent ghosts. Spirits. Demons seeking to possess and torture. Resentment tangles his insides -- it would be nice, he thinks, if he could dismiss Moiraine's words with a curt I cannot help you and walk away, content in his loathing.

But now his curiosity has sat up on its hind legs like a rabbit sniffing the air, too insistent to ignore.

Be wary, he reminds himself, and sighs a tired breath as he shoves some loose hair away from his face.

"Where are they coming from?" Short, simple questions. As little room as possible for her to dance around the truth.

[blue_ajah]

"There is a grove. In the woods, outside of the nearby town. Something lies at its center."

If anything at all were to come of this, she knows, she will have a very great deal of explaining to do, starting with what is almost certain to be an extremely difficult conversation with Dale Cooper.

It does not stop her from speaking. She is who she is, and for all that she has come to call Twin Peaks her home, she cannot know and do nothing at all.

"I have not myself been there. Not yet."

[acrookedpath]

"Has anyone else?"

An idea begins to take shape as he remembers their conversation -- the bits and pieces of how Moiraine's own cultivation works. There could be a way to handle this without revealing too much.

"Have they seen what is at the center?"

[blue_ajah]

"Yes."

Her tone is perfectly level, and her expression is absolutely smooth and blank, all emotion hidden.

[acrookedpath]

"What is it?" he presses.

[blue_ajah]

She has begun this. She will have to see it through.

(--Glastonberry Grove, also known as the entrance in our world to the Black Lodge--)

"I suppose it might be called a portal. Of sorts."

As level as before.

"At times it looks like a pool of black oil."

[acrookedpath]

He nods, gaze abstracted, thinking of the blood pool in Demon-Subdue Cave. Absently, he scratches the tip of his nose.

"Are you certain it produces the spirits and ghosts, not merely attracts them?"

[blue_ajah]

"It may attract some," she says, slowly.

"Some are known to have come through it."

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian hms thoughtfully. He drums his fingers against the bartop, then, rapidly tapping his index finger, asks, "Madam Bar, may I have a red pen?"

The pen materializes under his hand. Uncapping it, he fishes around in the sleeve of his robe and comes out with a fistful of blank talisman paper.

"Test this for me," he says, scribbling a quick line of characters down one talisman before shoving it Moiraine's way. "Channel your power into it."

[blue_ajah]

She gives him a sideways glance, and then visibly decides not to ask.

A faint corona of golden light appears around her, and she holds her right hand out above the talisman. Silver threads of Spirit drift from her fingertips and touch the paper, like a spiderweb settling into place, as she attempts to discern what effect it will have.

[acrookedpath]

The characters glow a brilliant red, like the embers of a dying fire -- and as it does, a sharp breeze skitters down the table, stirring Wei Wuxian's hair. He can't help it: for the first time since he met Moiraine's eye, he breaks into a delighted grin.

"I thought so." Satisfied, he snatches the spent talisman away. "Your source will activate a talisman. Not perfectly, but..." He studies the paper critically, voice dropping to a mumble as he makes a few more notations. "Perhaps a few allowances here and here."

He glances up to her.

"What efforts have they made to subdue it already?"

[blue_ajah]

She shakes her head.

"I am not certain they have," she says, simply. "There are those who defend against what comes from it as best they can, and who seek to combat it. But as for the thing itself--"

("Please don't ask me to take you there," Dale had told her.)

The Aes Sedai's words trail off there.

[acrookedpath]

He waits to see if she will continue.

When she doesn't, he prompts, "Yes?"

[blue_ajah]

Moiraine looks up from the talisman and meets his eyes.

"I am not certain," she says again, steadily. "And as I have told you before, I may speak no word that is not true."

[acrookedpath]

Wei Wuxian sighs. "Well," he says as he grabs a few more slips of talisman paper, "then we will start with this."

He shoves a fistful of hair back from his face and props his elbow on the bar, writing out a fresh line of characters. He works in silence for several minutes, scribbling talisman after talisman, tossing them into a crooked stack between them. As far as any outsider might tell, he is a stranger to Moiraine, absorbed so completely in his own work that the woman next to him does not exist.

"This is cultivation, not necromancy," he says at last, and shoves the stack her way. Wei Wuxian taps the paper on top. "Place this one north, no more than twenty-five meters from the pool. Space the rest evenly in a circle around the clearing. Go counter-clockwise or it will not work. Then activate the topmost talisman. Write down everything you see and come back to me."

[blue_ajah]

She has watched in silence the entire time, dark eyes intent and interest focused.

When he speaks, it is almost a surprise - but it is the last thing he says that is the most unexpected, as it happens.

"This is more than I had thought to hope for," she says. "Given our previous conversation. Thank you, Master Wei."

A beat.

"What should I be looking for, or expect to see?"

[acrookedpath]

"Don't thank me," he says shortly. "I still don't trust you. I trust my work, and I am curious to see what will happen if it is used elsewhere."

Besides, even if he does not trust Moiraine, squabbles ought to be put aside when an influx of angry ghosts is causing serious harm.

"These will send a wave of energy inward. If there has been any attempt at suppression, it will break over it as water on a rock. Tell me the shape, the color, any cracks in the suppression you might see -- it will only be brief and the the talismans will work only once, so commit it to memory quickly."

[blue_ajah]

"Very well," she says, evidently unruffled. Whatever thoughts or opinions she may have about his distrust - or the fact that he is providing aid despite it - she keeps hidden.

(It is possible that this could be a trap, she knows; that he could have constructed something that might send her to her death. She does not think it very likely, however, and some risks are work taking.)

"And if there has not been an attempt at suppression?"

She picks up the pile of talismans, taking care to ensure they remain in the same order he has placed them in, and begins to neatly stack them.

"I ask because if there is a chance that the wave of energy you describe might disturb or awaken that which lies within the pool, it would be best for all if I were properly prepared for it."

[acrookedpath]

If there has not been an attempt at suppression, he doesn't say, then you have much bigger things to worry about. Instead he scratches the back of his head with the pen, eyeing the blank talisman paper.

"This," he says, and recommences drawing: two talismans this time, nearly identical. He hands the first to Moiraine. "Place this in a safe haven." And the second: "Keep this one close. If the resentful energy stirs, activate it, and you will return to the place of the first talisman."

[blue_ajah]

Somewhere in the northwestern United States, there is an ominous rumble of thunder.

Since it is not in Milliways, however, it does not disturb this particular conversation. Moiraine nods and takes both talismans, careful to keep them separate and distinct.

She places her hand on the bartop and murmurs a soft request. Two redwell folders with overlapping covers appear, and she starts putting the talismans away, one set for each.

“Teleportation or portal transfer?” she asks, as she works. “Portals are within my weaving, in general, but it is not an instantaneous matter.”

[acrookedpath]

"Portals."

Trying to walk the line between taking care of the ghosts and not giving Moiraine too much information to use against him -- it is a delicate process. And it means Wei Wuxian is biting his tongue far harder than he normally would.

(Lan Zhan will probably get four hours straight of Wei Wuxian talking his ear off about theoretical talismans tonight, just to make up for it.)

[blue_ajah]

“I see,” she murmurs.

There are many more questions she would like to ask, but for now, it is enough. As a beginning, this is a fragile one... but it is a beginning all the same.

The Wheel weaves.

“I shall not trouble you further this day, Master Wei. There is much I need to do, it seems, and preparations to be made before I make the attempt.”

Including a call to Dale, at the very least. Moiraine suspects it would not be advisable to enter the grove without some negotiation with the Bookhouse Boys, and before that, an explanation is likely to be needed.

“I appreciate your assistance, and will look for you again on my return.”